When I was five, my father passed away from Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, or IDP. While getting a heart transplant, he went brain dead. I felt failed by the doctors who worked on him. This great man, my superhero, was taken away from me. I couldn’t understand why this had happened to him. They teach us that doctors saved lives, so why couldn’t they save his? I have to spend the rest of my life without my father. I was mad at not only him, but especially at the doctors who had failed to get oxygen to his brain. I had declared a hate for doctors. I felt it was my mission to find out what went wrong. After I got a little older and understood a little more about healthcare, I wanted to know if they could have prevented it. I researched my father’s condition and the surgeries he had. I wanted to know every move the surgeon had to make. I became engrossed in the procedures and it was like a chain reaction. I’d watch surgery after surgery, and at that point, it wasn’t just about my dad anymore. I wanted to know what was wrong with people and why they could/couldn’t be saved. It interested me that these ordinary people could save some lives, but not all. I then realized that I wanted to be one of those people to save lives. My heart and mind let go of that anger towards those doctors and focused on - how could I save people so that little girls like me didn’t have to grow up without a parent. I wanted to be that person to hand their loved ones over to them and say, enjoy the rest of your lives with them. I was sure I could save everyone.

Every day I take part in self-care by doing daily, healthy habits. These include: brushing my teeth, practicing skin care, exercise, showering, taking time to myself, spending time with my family, and relaxing. While most of those sound like reasonable human things, they are all personal self-care. I require each for me to maintain my healthiest life. These components affect my personality and health. When I feel fresh and smell pleasant, it makes me want to be around people. When I do not feel the best about myself is when I lack in these components. Practicing adequate self-care is essential in our cruel society. It is important to preserve your self-love and individuality when everything around us appears to be crumbling. These basic tasks are things I control and I do not require help to complete. I want to work in the healthcare industry and it would be hypocritical to tell my patients to practice self-care if I do not practice it for myself. So, I strive to be an example for my future patients. I want to show them how beneficial it is to have a healthy (physical and mental) relationship with their body. We are taught it is important to take care of our health, and taking many medical classes has shown me the negative effects of people who neglect their care regimens. Something as simple as not brushing your teeth can cause health concerns and diseases such as gingivitis, abscesses, and even extreme oral cancer. I am afraid of health issues, so I use that fear as a motivation for my self-care.

When I was five years old one of my best friends, my father, passed away. He suffered from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. While attaining a cardiac transplant, he had his final cessation of neurological activity. I was heartbroken. I couldn’t help but to feel failed by the doctors whose job was to save him. I couldn’t comprehend why these specialists couldn’t help my father. As I saw other people leave their hospital rooms with their family, I wondered what went wrong? Why couldn’t my dad get up and walk out with them? When you’re five people try to answer tough questions it in simple terms, yet when you finally ask after twelve years no one can still tell you. I want to understand what happened and why only some families got to go home together. Twelve years and I’m still waiting for my answer. Ever since then, I’ve been thinking. If no one can tell me why he didn’t survive, I’ll answer it myself. Maybe if I worked hard enough to get to the same position as those doctors, I will know why some people can and cannot live. Maybe I can be better than them. Just maybe can I save some family from falling apart. It took me a while to decide where I would attain this goal. People told me that’s too ambitious of a girl with a single mother and a sibling going through college. They didn’t understand why. I took as a good deal of health, science, and college medical classes I could take while in school. People still continued to say that maybe I should just give it up. My mother believed in my and I thought of my dad every day. I worked hard every year to take as many college classes as possible, and I’ve almost completed my basics with an A+ average. In high school, my lowest grade was never under a 95, I’m ranked third in my class and still raising higher. I know twelve years is going to be expensive, but saving lives is priceless. I’d rather go broke than to stop trying. My dream is to step into the shoes of my father’s doctors and understand what happened. I want to go home at least once and say I saved a person’s life today. No family should have to fall apart from a common procedure.

Escaping the harsh reality of this stressful world and crawling through the little door of fascination. Coraline, a 2009 classic, by the great Henry Selick. You get to jump into the life of a young girl who is ignored by her parents. She finds entertainment by "water witching" and she explores the house. She finds a small door and crawls through. She enters the Beldam's world that she made just for Coraline. The Beldam changes herself and the world around her just to trick children into letting her eat their souls. Caroline is not so gullible. In the end, it teaches young children to not trust strangers and that family matters no matter how much attention they give you. I like the movie because of its mysterious mood and wonderful artwork. My favorite scene is when Coraline and other Wybie, go downstairs to watch Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcible. I like being able to see the magical world and be a little weird, like the characters.